Sometimes you just can't make it into the kitchen to cook. Dr. Gourmet
has reviewed over 800 common convenience foods, ingredients, and restaurant
selections so that you know what's worth eating - and what's not. View the Index of all Dr. Gourmet's Food Reviews

Just Tell Me What to Eat!

Timothy S. Harlan, MD, FACP has counseled thousands of his patients on healthy, sustainable weight loss. Now he's compiled his best tips and recipes into a six-week plan for you to learn how to eat great food that just happens to be great for you - and if losing weight is your goal, you can do that, too.

Get the prescription for better health as well as healthy weight loss, including:

Dr. Gourmet's Food Reviews

Saffron Road

Thai Red Curry Fish, Lemongrass Basil Fish, and Sesame Ginger Salmon

In general, we think well of Saffron Road products. Of the
21 we have reviewed, 7 get a thumbs down. While I would be disappointed to find
that 1/3 of my product wasn't equal to the other 2/3, in the frozen food
business a 67% success rate isn't bad. Practically speaking, that means that
when we see new products by Saffron Road we don't hesitate to purchase and put
them to the test. This review comes with the bonus that all three new items on
offer are seafood, something particularly challenging in the microwave food
world.

First up was the Thai Red Curry Fish with Rice Noodles. This is described as "wild caught Alaskan Pollock in a classic Panang curry."
To be honest, our expectations were a bit low: fish is one thing to reheat, but
rice noodles can turn into a gloppy mess pretty quickly in the microwave. The
instructions call for a three minute heating on high, then stirring the dish
and cooking for another two minutes. After the first 3 minutes I was dubious
as there was a lot of liquid. I thought that it might get absorbed by the rice
noodles, and indeed, that is the case. The final product comes out quite well
cooked with the noodles not overcooked and a slightly creamy sauce.

The flavor is quite good, but there was something missing: it was sufficiently spicy, with good Thai seasonings, and was salty enough - but
it just misses the mark at being a great sauce. This is a disappointment given
that the fish comes out pretty well cooked and the noodles are about as good as
can be. They aren't stuck together, as you might expect, and come out al dente
- not gummy at all. All of this is a shame because the numbers are pretty good,
with only 220 calories, 4 grams of fiber, and 510 milligrams of sodium.

We don't often experiment with these dishes, but after discussing what might be wrong we decided to try an experiment. The feeling was
that there was not enough flavor balance in the dish, with it having good
umami, sour, and salty flavors to complement the spice, but lacking just a
touch of sweetness. Adding a scant 1/4 teaspoon of maple syrup fixed the sauce
in a major way, bringing out the creaminess and enhancing the saltiness and
sourness of the dish. It did damp down the spiciness a little (if you are
listening, Saffron Road), so it would be good to add a bit of red pepper flakes
to bring that back. Even without these proposed modifications (we also think
that using brown rice noodles would add 2 grams of fiber and a bit more body),
this is a good dish.

The Lemongrass Basil Fish has the same well-executed rice
noodles in a bright, lemony sauce touched with coconut milk, ginger, and a
light curry zing. As in the Red Curry Fish, the Alaskan Pollock in this dish
comes out just a little chewy, but that's to be expected any time you microwave
fish, and especially when there are a number of smaller pieces, as here. The
snowpeas might be a touch wilted, but they've still got crunch and lend a
little pop of both sweet and bitter.

Once again we were intrigued by the possibility of balancing
the flavors between the umami of the fish, the tartness of the lemongrass, and
the bitterness of the snow peas, so this time we added a touch of honey. What a
difference - a pretty darn good dish becomes a really good dish when the
honey damps down the lemongrass to allow the other flavors to shine. Another
fish option to add to your freezer at 240 calories, 400 milligrams of sodium
and 3 grams of fiber.

The final dish in today's tasting was the Sesame Ginger
Salmon. After 5+ minutes in the microwave the single large piece of salmon is (again)
a little chewy, but the truth is that it's every bit as good as any piece of
chicken or beef - and much better for you. It has a soft salmon flavor that
should go over well with anyone who doesn't like their fish to taste too
"fishy."

This time the fish comes with white rice, and as always we
wished immediately that it were brown rice. Not only would it likely double the
fiber content of the meal, brown rice would be less likely to become gummy, as
the white rice does here. To be fair, the sauce might be partly to blame for
the texture of the rice - it's a thick, creamy, and slightly sweet sauce of
sesame oil, soy sauce, and ginger with just a hint of a cayenne afterburn. The
water chestnuts and julienned carrots add texture and sweetness, though we
could wish for more snow peas: we counted five of them. This time no flavor
balancing was needed - another winner at 280 calories, 410 milligrams of
sodium, and 2 grams of fiber.